When we talk of “hard times,” we should be careful. For all the hardship we face from a shortage of life’s necessities, we face an even greater challenge when we suffer a surplus. If we’re not careful, our character will weaken in times of affluence.
Do we really want our hearts to be adjusted to God’s holiness or not? If we do, there is a price to be paid and a discipline to be submitted to. We must through many tribulations enter the kingdom. There is no other entrance, no easier entrance.
It’s a foolish waste of time to always be looking for shortcuts. Today is how we get to tomorrow! And if today is difficult, as it often will be in this world, we ought to do more than tolerate it. We ought to taste it deeply and give thanks for it.
Our actions spring from our thinking — and if our thinking were to be filled with the adoration of God, just imagine what the result would be! Our deeds would be drawn toward Him with a force that all the evil armies of hell could not stop.
Whatever God expects us to do, He will help us to do. And help with those things is what we ought to desire, more than we desire His help with lesser concerns. In anything related to the gospel of Christ, we needn’t worry about coming up short.
The light we should ask for is light to illuminate the road we’re actually going to travel. Guidance is only for those who are going somewhere. So if we’re reaching forward, we should pray for light — but our intention must be to move forward!
By our nature, we are creatures who seek, and every kind of seeking that we may engage in has its own set of consequences. Depending on what we seek and how we seek it, we will each arrive at a “goal” that is the ultimate outcome of our seeking.
Life in this world is hard. It is ugly, and it is dangerous. We’re never more than a step away from sorrow or shame, and the weight of the world may not be something we can bear without breaking — but being broken need not be the end of the story.
As Jesus approached the tomb of His friend Lazarus, He “wept” (John 11:35). Then the account says that He arrived at the tomb “groaning in Himself” (v.38). We need to dispense with the idea that spiritually mature people never hurt and never cry.
Even for the person of extraordinary spiritual strength, it is hard to keep a positive focus on God when the body is not able to function normally or is racked with pain. What, then, should be our attitude toward physical impairments or diseases?
In the New Testament, there are two phases or stages in obeying the gospel: first, we accept God’s forgiveness on His terms, and second, we live the rest of our ...
The fact that our salvation is by grace does not mean the gospel requires no response. It is a message that must be responded to, and in the absence of ...
The gospel is the good news of God’s salvation. But never forget: the message is about Jesus Christ. It is in Jesus that God is offering salvation. In 2 Corinthians ...
It is from sin that God desires to save us. The gospel is not about the amelioration of social ills or earthly maladies. It’s about (a) the forgiveness of our ...
Adam and Eve were free, but they used their freedom to reject God rather than honor Him as their Maker. We must not underestimate the seriousness of their decision to ...
Adam and Eve’s creation in God’s image meant they were subject to Him in unique ways. Brought into being by God, they had God as their King. He possessed the ...
In Acts, as soon as people saw the seriousness of their sins and the joy of forgiveness that could be theirs, they wanted to be baptized immediately, even in the ...
Have you obeyed the gospel? Whatever others may have done, have you responded rightly to the glad tidings of salvation in Jesus Christ? The gospel is the best news in ...
Paul spoke of the hope provided by the gospel when he said, “If we have died with him, we will also live with him” (2 Timothy 2:11). It is no ...
There is no more important activity than self-examination. Are we, or are we not, in a right relationship with God? Do we, or do we not, have the hope of ...
Let’s look at three biblical descriptions of what happens when a person obeys the gospel, all of which point to the same experience. Each of these emphasize the deep, inward ...
We often hear people talk about having “accepted Jesus as their Lord” when a quick look at their lives makes us wonder if they even know the definition of “lord.” ...